NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (September 04, 2024)- Less than two years since the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM)-led Nevis Island Administration (NIA) introduced a retirement package for its Non-Established (NE) Workers in the public service and some 80 persons have already received over four million dollars in benefits.

“I feel particularly proud as Premier of Nevis that I and the Cabinet that I lead were able to come up with a plan…that sought to give our Non-Established Workers some comfort, some dignity, and has allowed them to proceed into retirement with something in their pockets and an expectation of some payment on a monthly basis,” said Premier the Honourable Mark Brantley, Minister of Finance and Human Resources, at his recently held monthly press conference.

“We have so far benefited some 80 Non-Established Workers under this scheme introduced by this Administration and so far, we have paid out to those workers some 4.1 million dollars in gratuity.”

According to the Premier, the data provided was as at July 2024.

He further informed that the NIA is currently paying around $82,390 per month or $988,680 per annum in pension benefits to NE Workers.

The NIA took the decision to implement the NE Workers retirement benefits package in September 2022. Prior to that NE Workers would have retired empty-handed after working for decades in the public service.

“I want the public to understand that this was a significant financial commitment by the NIA. Many people have talked about it. There has been chatter about doing something better for NE workers for years. This government has delivered,” Premier Brantley stated.

The NIA’s NE Workers pension scheme is non-contributory, therefore no monies were deducted from workers’ salaries to provide for this financial cushion in their senior years.

Photo caption: Premier of Nevis the Honourable Mark Brantley, Minister of Finance and Human Resources in the Nevis Island Administration